This invention relates to the field of building construction, and more particularly to improvements in handling panels or slabs or rigid materials such as slate, marble, glass, and particularly granite, and in for securing them in their intended locations.
Materials of this type are known to be useful in building construction, but are also extremely heavy, so that mechanical aids are necessary in moving and placing them. It is becoming increasing common to use stone slabs or panels as facings or veneers in building construction, which introduces numerous problems. For economy in shipping of the slabs from the quarry, it is desirable that they be as thin as possible to reduce their weight, but thin panels of large area are comparatively fragile and require careful handling in transportation and erection. The thinness of such panels also makes difficult the provision of means by which to secure them into position and to hoist and otherwise transport them without inadvertently applying such stresses that the material is fractured.